In general: why has the movement for social justice unfolded in such a way that its most passionate members have forbidden complexity, nuance, internal criticism, and conditional support? [...] Why do people insist we all be loyal soldiers at precisely the time we need robust internal debate the…
Catalog
Freddie DeBoer
It is stunning how bad you all are at actually working political questions out. It is stunning how weak you all are. It is stunning how lazy you are about advancing your own political views. It is stunning how little you care about winning.
All of you pro-campus censorship "leftists" are phonies with no consistent left-wing principles. It's a fake debate, it's fugazi. It's yet another ostensibly left position that exists to advance the personal brand of people with no political center whatsoever.
So articulate a principle, and lay out a feasible, constructive, positive vision for who can say what, when, on campus, that does not result in even further defunding and politicized assaults on our public universities. Then we could have a debate. Or else stop pretending that you actually care…
The purpose of actual moral discourse is to present people with a set of alternative behaviors they can perform to avoid doing harm. The purpose of bogus moral grandstanding is to align yourself with people in your broad social circle, to advance your personal brand and demonstrate to others that…
Academic freedom and free expression on campus are a good example of this condition. I am a staunch defender of these things — not in spite of the fact that I am a leftist, but because I am a leftist, as support for civil liberties is a time-honored and existential facet of American socialism. But…